


The Paradise Complex

by unwillingadventurer



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 11:25:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12506300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unwillingadventurer/pseuds/unwillingadventurer
Summary: Sometimes paradise isn't all it's cracked up to be.





	The Paradise Complex

“Rest darling, please rest,” I said to my husband as he lay peacefully in the hospital bed. We’d been married forty years and he still had that same reluctance to let me worry about him. I tucked the covers around his warm body and leant over to kiss his cheek. 

“Barbara,” Ian’s voice said softly as I sat down on the chair beside the bed, “you really must get some rest yourself.”

“I’m not the one who’s had a heart attack. Please, Ian, let me stay a while.”

We heard the nurses scurrying about to and fro. They’d been really kind to us at that hospital and I was so glad they were there to help Ian pull through what very well might have taken him from me. I had never liked hospitals, I remembered my father being in one before he passed away and I remembered the way I felt and the sound of the trolleys against the floor and the nurses pulling back the curtains around the beds as they made a screeching sound. There was also the smell of sickness, the smell of ointment, and all the other odours that reminded you of the things you wanted to forget. 

“Mrs. Chesterton,” the nurse said. “I’m just reminding you that visiting hours end at eight.”

I looked at the clock- it was ten past seven. I still had some time to spend with Ian before I let him go to sleep and dream the night away. Even though the doctors had said he was going to be fine, I still felt that pang of worry and I didn’t want to go home and be away from him. We’d barely spent a night apart the last forty years. I missed him there when he was gone, and back at home I couldn’t look after him if he called out to me, couldn’t comfort him if he was in pain, I would feel useless. I heard the door open and I turned expecting it to be another nurse but I was pleasantly surprised to see our son John coming towards me.

“Mum, how is he?” John asked as he sat down on the bed.

“He is fine,” said Ian. “I don’t know why you’re all fussing. I’m perfectly alright.”

John shot me a look. “Still his old stubborn self then!”

“You’re not too old for me to tell you off you know?” Ian smiled from his bed.

I laughed. John was thirty-nine and had children of his own. He’s a musician. Johnny Chess is his stage name, what his fans call him and he was a very successful pop-star during the 1980’s, to us though he’s just John, our beloved son. Ian was hugely insistent at first that he was not going to have a son who called himself Johnny Chess, but he soon warmed to the idea of our son being a pop-star and idolised by teenage girls when he saw how happy Johnny really was whenever he picked up a guitar and performed on stage. Ian had been sceptical of the career choice at first and I suspect disappointed that his son hadn’t shown an interest in science, but after he saw John play on stage for the first time, I knew he was just as proud of him as I was and his ambitions of his son becoming a scientist went out of the window along with the chemistry set.

John kissed Ian on the forehead and sat back down on the bed.

“So, what are you two talking about?”

“Nothing really, I was thinking about your dad’s diet.”

Ian cut me off. “Oh not now Barbara, please don’t talk to me about diets, I want to be cheered up.”

“How about a story then?” John asked.

I folded my arms. “A story?”   
“Yeah,” John began, “like when I was a kid and you used to tell me about the Doctor and the Daleks and the time Dad reckoned he was knighted.”

“I was knighted!”

“Oh yes!” John laughed. “And I called you Sir Ian Knight of Jaffa cakes.”

Ian laughed softly and I suddenly felt rather emotional to see my two boys together. Oh I knew that my husband was now an old man and John almost forty, but to me they were still my two favourite boys. They’d been quite difficult at times, they argued over the years like cat and mouse but they could always rely on me to put things right between them. Oh I didn’t mean to brag, but honestly John was just as stubborn and irritable as his father and so I know exactly how to make things better for them. 

 

“And I want an interesting story,” Ian said. “One we’ve never told John. One of those adventures where just for once we weren’t moments from death.”

“Oh that one,” I said, a smile curving on my lips.

I thought for a moment, the memories flooding my mind like it was yesterday. Sometimes when I recalled our days with the Doctor, I would shut my eyes and I could almost picture myself there. I could still see it all so clearly and would remember every sight and every sound. I was surprised that I could. I hoped in my advancing years I would still remember. 

John had started to write some of the stories down though Ian had forbidden him from writing them into a biography as he never liked the idea of everyone knowing our life story, and he preferred to think of them as fiction sometimes, perhaps it was easier that way, like a fairytale adventure rather than reality. He wanted John to write them as make believe stories for the grandchildren, never entirely revealing that our adventures in time and space had very much been real to us.

Sometimes of course fiction did become reality. Just last year, the Daleks attacked London and some lives were lost up in Canary Wharf and on the ground below. We’d spent all our time worrying about Daleks invading the future of 2164 that we’d completely overlooked the possibility that they were time travellers who could attack Earth at whatever point they wanted. Of course the Daleks were defeated as they always should be but Ian and I always speculated about whether the Doctor was involved somehow; giving those machines a telling off in the grandest way possible. It was all over so fast and we imagined our Doctor up in that skyscraper battling our old enemies without a single thought for his own safety. 

I’ll never forget the look in Ian’s eyes when we first discovered that the Daleks were in our city again and those Cyber machines were rampaging about through our streets like a metal army- terrifying creatures, people inside metal suits of armour who tried to convert anyone who they came in contact with, to be just like them. Ian had never been so quiet, so solemn. I suspected he knew that at his older age that he was powerless to dive in and help as he would’ve done in a heartbeat and that hurt him greatly. In some ways I wonder, wonder if the toll of those days with the Daleks and the Earth plunged into extra terrestrial life brought on this ill health of Ian’s. It had been tough for me too, though I tried not to outwardly show how much it pained me to see the Daleks back in our lives. I was most frightened for John and the grandchildren though, my mind always racing with thoughts of them being hurt.

“So where does our story begin Mum?” John said as he looked at me with curious eyes- the same eyes of the nine year old in the 1970’s- who would beg me and Ian to tell him more stories.

“Oh alright,” I said and I started to explain about one time when we had arrived somewhere, hoping that we were home.

I laughed as I noticed a couple of the nurses peering around the curtain, half-listening to our conversation, assuming I was about to tell some fictional tale. Oh if only they knew the truth!

“Well we were in the TARDIS and the Doctor looked excitedly at the controls. He had set the ship in motion...”

…

It was a much more pleasant landing than we usually encountered. Sometimes on the point of materialisation, I was clinging onto the console or the chair or something that would break my fall. 

After a pause, the Doctor noted that we had arrived somewhere, and the ship’s scanner was showing some sort of planet that looked a lot like Earth. Susan’s readings were saying the atmosphere was identical to Earth’s, so naturally Ian and I were optimistic that the Doctor may have got us home this time. 

“What do you think Barbara?” Ian asked.

I smiled. It certainly looked like some sort of English Forest, one like Sherwood Forest straight out of Robin Hood. We were very eager to get outside, so the Doctor quickly opened the doors and a moment or two later we were in that beautiful forest, the trees were crisp and green and the sun was beating down on us through the trees.

“Could be in the height of a British summer,” Susan had said quite for our benefit.

“Not rainy enough,” Ian joked beside me, but I wasn’t really listening and I was gazing around at the place that felt so familiar and real. Perhaps I’d even been there before I wondered.

We took a long walk through the trees. Ian and I hand in hand as the Doctor and Susan trailed on a little behind us. The Doctor tended to get rather puffy when he walked long distances and every so often we’d hear a snort or snarky comment from the old man and we had to slow our pace, but for the most part, Ian and I were able to walk at our own speed and look at the sights all around us. It didn’t feel like we had been walking too far when we cleared the stretch of trees and found ourselves on a road. 

“Where to now, Doctor?” Ian said turning back to him.

The Doctor looked at the road and placed his index finger on his chin as if that would magically tell him the way to go. 

“I have an idea which way!” Susan’s voice said in a happy squeal beside us.

We all turned to face her, three adults towering above her. I must admit I tended to still talk to Susan like she was my pupil- I was always keen to teach her.

“Where, Susan?” I asked.

Susan pointed into the distance and we all turned to look at the same time and were shocked at the sight that was in front of us. It was a huge glass dome of some kind, but it was enormous and tremendous in height. I could barely look away- it was one of the most astonishing sights I’d ever seen. The glass shimmered and caught the light in a way that refracted rainbow light across the path ahead of us.

“It’s like one giant elaborate greenhouse,” Ian said.

“Absolutely fascinating,” the Doctor added, narrowing his eyes to look at it, “an absolute marvel of engineering, really quite fascinating.”

“Yes but also significant,” Ian said.

“How so?” the Doctor said.

“Well...we know we’re not in our time for one thing. There were no giant greenhouse type structures in our time, not to that scale anyway.”

“How can you be certain Chesterfield? It could be a secret government facility.”

“Well I suppose, but still, Doctor, it’s unlikely this is the 1960’s.”

“Don’t give up hope Ian,” I said. “At least it feels like Earth anyway.” I took in a deep breath of the air. It felt so fresh, so real, and so clear. It was strange to say but it felt like Earth, I honestly started to believe that we could be home. Ian was being his usual sceptical self and rambling on about how little details seemed to disprove any suggestions we were home. He was so stubborn sometimes.

...

“Now just a minute!” Ian said from his hospital bedside. “Those concerns were well founded. It’s a good job I was sceptical, seeing as you were ready to pitch a flag and call home.”

“I was not certain, Ian.” I scowled at my husband as John laughed beside us. “But, I was a lot more open minded that’s all.”

Ian snorted. “Oh of course Barbara, that’s what you call it.”

“Anyway if you’d stop interrupting I can get back to telling the story.”

...

So Ian was being stubborn and I was of course being the open minded traveller of which the Doctor preferred. I remember Susan was carried away with excitement as we neared the dome. She had collected garlands of beautiful flowers along the way and had decided to place them around us. She said it symbolised our tribe and that it also looked rather pretty. The Doctor sneered to show his discontent at the pink roses draped around his neck but I could see briefly a quick smile at his granddaughter as though his petty whining was for the benefit of Ian and me rather than himself. Ian had barely noticed the garland and I suspected at the time that if he’d have realised that he was covered in delicate little daises then he would have protested most avidly.

“I’ve chosen the flowers to each represent your personalities,” Susan said aside to me. “Grandfather is a thorny rose and I’m a bright and summery buttercup. You Barbara you’re the irises, a more understated beauty.”

“And what does Ian have to do with daisies?” I queried with a slight giggle.

“Oh nothing in particular,” Susan said. “I just thought they were pretty like he is.”

“Who’s pretty?” Ian said as he suddenly noticed the daises draped around him. “What on earth are these?” He said pushing them off as if they were ugly vines rather than lovely flowers.

“We were talking about you Ian,” Susan said.

Ian blushed and pretended he didn’t hear what she had said, far too embarrassed to imagine he’d heard her call him pretty. He was her former teacher and although as a group we’d become like a little family, crossing the boundaries from teacher/pupil to friends was hard to get used to.

...

“I wasn’t embarrassed,” Ian interrupted again. “I was just worried she was going to start pulling off the petals declaring ‘he loves me, he loves me not.’”

“Ian, do pay attention to the story. I want to tell everyone what happened and you’re interrupting.”

“Perhaps you could leave out certain pointless aspects?” he said, grumbling.

A nurse checking Ian’s blood pressure let out a chuckle. 

“Nonsense, it’s nice to know all of the little moments that make the story come alive. Now be quiet, relax, and let me carry on.”

...

The flower discussion took us right up to the end of the road to where we were standing right in front of the enormous glass structure that reminded me of the Crystal Palace during Queen Victoria’s reign- except of course this structure was infinitely bigger and even more awe inspiring. I realised that none of the four of us had even muttered a word for moments, so mesmerised by the sheer brilliance of such magnificent architecture. 

“Grandfather, can we take a look inside?” Susan said finally, breaking the silence.

“Of course child, I wasn’t going to just take a peek and then head home.”

It was at that moment, I realised the effect me and Ian had had on the old man. When we first had met him he showed little to no interest of doing anything rather than observing from a distance, and he certainly wouldn’t venture into restricted areas if he knew there could be danger. Not that he thought the dome was dangerous necessarily, but it did seem to be surrounded by a stretch of long wire as though trying to keep something out.

“Hope it’s not electric, Doctor,” Ian said as he walked closer to examine it. He observed the wire fence, glancing at it carefully. “Oh yes, you can hear the hum, it’s charged alright.”

The Doctor coughed. “Yes, well step back, step back, we’ll find another way in somehow.”

But as the Doctor had said it, Ian stumbled on a bit of uneven ground, and it was as if in slow motion that he started to fall onto the wire. I let out a yelp of terror as I realised that Ian was going to be horribly electrocuted right in front of me with nothing I could do to help, but then he just fell against the wire and to my complete surprise (and pure happiness), he got caught but was able to wriggle himself free of its metal clutches.

Ian stammered as he broke free. “Doctor that wire fence was live! I could tell it was alive. I should have been blasted by a dangerously high voltage.”

I made sure Ian was alright, checking him over carefully. “Doctor, how can this be?” 

The Doctor bent over to examine the wire fence himself and he hunched over and began to look at it with deep interest. He always appeared a lot older when he was bent over in that way, like a feeble old weak man. It was funny really because despite his aged looks and dwindling physical strength, the Doctor was the most capable of us all. He was the strongest in many ways.

“Most strange,” the Doctor muttered. He ignored my attempts at an explanation and proceeded to walk into another direction. 

We didn’t question him and we began following him around the fence. Despite Ian not being electrocuted, I think we all decided it’d be best not to risk another person stepping through and this time being hurt. The path that led around the fence only added about ten minutes to the journey and not before long we were face to face with a giant circular door. It was so big that it reminded me of Alice in Wonderland where shrunken Alice couldn’t even reach the handle.

“What now?” Susan asked. “How do we get inside?”

“Perhaps its voice activated,” Ian said as he noticed a small speaker on the wall beside the door. 

“But it won’t recognise any of our voices,” I said. “We’ve never been here before.”

“Perhaps there’s a doorman, or maybe we can ask for someone in charge?” I said.

The Doctor stepped forward as though leader of our tribe and pressed the little buzzer on the speaker. The contraption crackled and hissed. “Hello? Can we come in?” he said.

There was no reply and the door remained sealed tight. The Doctor seemed most displeased that his voice was not instantly recognised or responded to. I in contrast felt excited, like we were trespassing on some forsaken land. I stepped forward. I wanted to try the door myself, not because I thought it’d work but because it seemed like fun.

“Open up!” I said loudly which made the others look at me like I was mad.

Ian laughed and leaned in close to me. “Is there anybody there?” he said at the same time as I repeated my command. We both laughed together and were not expecting the door to rise before us like a drawbridge. 

“It opened!” I said.

“Well how about that, eh Doctor?” Ian said, puffing his chest out. “It must have liked the sound of me and Barbara.”

The Doctor waved his handkerchief about as if we were being silly children. He harrumphed and started to walk inside. I wasn’t sure exactly what he started mumbling about but I could tell he was very put out by the door being commanded open by us mere humans and not by one so intelligent and well travelled as himself. We hadn’t been with the old man long, a few adventures only, and in that time we had seen him mellow and he’d treated us well, even praised us on occasion, but seeing us as equals in intelligence was a slower process. We started to wonder if the Doctor would ever see the goodness and the importance inside of us.

Susan raced on ahead to join her grandfather whilst Ian and I walked a little slower behind, taking in the sights as we entered into the dome.

“Well the Doctor didn’t like that,” Ian said with a grin spread across his face. 

“Yes but Ian, why did it open to our voices and why didn’t that electric fence hurt you?”

“I don’t know Barbara, perhaps we’ll find all the answers we need in here.”

“Come along slow coaches,” Susan called as she stood in some kind of reception area where the Doctor was standing by a desk with a bell. He was pressing the bell over and over, waiting for someone to come rushing over to cater to his every whim.

“It’s defective,” he said, slamming his fist on the desk.

“It isn’t defective,” I said, taking his hand away. “It’s loud enough anyway, stop that, whoever lives here must of heard that racket!”

I was right and as we stood and waited, a mere minute later, a woman’s figure emerged and came into the light. We all stepped back in astonishment. I couldn’t believe my eyes. There, right in front of us with a big smile as she stood behind the counter...was me! Not just a lookalike, a woman with similar features or the same hair colour- no, she was me. I was staring at myself.

“Barbara!” Ian let out in shock. “It’s you, that woman is you!”

“I can see that thank you,” I stuttered back. “But how?”

“May I help you?” my other self said, she even had the same voice as me.

“Well she’s certainly more polite than you,” Ian said. I gave Ian a swift rib nudge, he was not helping.

Suddenly there was a familiar voice behind us. We all spun around to see Ian but it wasn’t our Ian, instead an Ian duplicate just stood there dressed as a bellboy and staring at us with a big helpful grin.

“May I take your bags?” he said.

“It’s Ian!” Susan squeaked in excitement. “There’s two of him!”

“Doctor, why are there two of me?!” Ian asked.

“I’m afraid, dear boy, I haven’t the foggiest.”

...

“So there was just a copy of you both running some sort of hotel?” John interrupted. 

“Well we weren’t sure what they were at first, John. It’s not every day you run into versions of yourself.”

“I can see why it was frightening running into another Dad!”

Ian gave John an unimpressed look as I began to explain to our son how strange it was looking at oneself. 

…

Usually you look at one’s self in a mirror, so you never quite see yourself as everybody else sees you. I remember looking at my other self and thinking: ‘Is that what I look like?’ ‘Is my nose that shape?’ ‘Is my hair that round?’ 

My ‘other self’ was wearing a navy blue skirt-suit with her hair pinned up and she was very well presented. Other Ian was also wearing a blue suit with a matching blue hat and a strap around the face and under the chin. His uniform had beautifully polished silver buttons and there were cufflinks on his shirt. Their outfits were very smart indeed, something I would expect at the Ritz Hotel in London.

“You there, bell-boy Chesterton,” the Doctor said to the other Ian. “What are you doing here?”

The Ian duplicate looked confused. “I’m here to take your bags to your room,” he simply replied with the exact tone of voice as the Ian I knew so well.

“We don’t have any bags,” Susan told him. “You can tell us where we are though, that would be a great help.”

The duplicate smiled. “This is the Lethbridge Kingdom Hotel. I am your bellboy, Mr. Chesterton, and she-” he said pointing to my other self, “-is Miss. Wright, your receptionist.”

The Doctor seemed annoyed at the response from other Ian. It didn’t matter what Ian it was, he had a habit of getting on the old man’s nerves.

“When I asked what you were doing here, I meant in general, how did you get here? Who are you Sir?”

The other Ian looked confused and a little surprised at the questioning.

“Grandfather, don’t frighten him, he doesn’t seem to know what you’re asking him.”

“Do you need me to take your bags sir?” the other Ian said again.

We all looked at each other. I didn’t really like what was happening, something felt very wrong. Why were there duplicates of me and Ian and why were they so simple and unable to answer questions?  
I approached my duplicate and stood in front of her, trying not to be fazed at the notion of staring at my own face- only not my own face but another version of me. “Excuse me, do you recognise me?” I asked calmly.

She looked at me and just smiled. “No, I’m afraid I don’t, why, should I?”

The Doctor looked into her eyes. “She looks exactly like you, why aren’t you shocked? Why are you not questioning why your long lost sister has walked into this hotel hmm?”

The other Barbara looked just as confused as the other Ian had done moments earlier. She smiled again, there was something rather eerie about the way she was always happy.

“Would you like a room? We have the Heriot Suite or the McCrimmon suite.”

“Is there any way we could just take a look around perhaps, take in the sights of this grand building?” Ian said.

“Why yes of course,” other Barbara told him. “You are most free to explore the facilities here at the Lethbridge Kingdom. Dinner is at 7pm sharp.”

Ian and I exchanged glances as the four of us left the duplicates standing there and we walked out of the reception area and into a new section of the complex.

“I’ve got the willies,” Ian said when we were out of ear shot. “I don’t understand this at all!”

“It was most disturbing!” the Doctor said, narrowing his eyes. He began to speculate and was fiddling around with his blazer with his fingers in the way he did when he was nervous. 

“And do I really look like that?” Ian said patting his stomach. “I really could lose a couple of pounds.”

We all laughed even though I was growing extremely anxious with the idea of an imposter running around the place. I’d had dreams when I was a child of running into a long lost twin or meeting my own doppelganger or finding someone who looked just like me in an old history book, but never did I expect to actually come face to face with someone who was for all intents and purposes...me.

We walked into a large conservatory area with the most stunning view of a swimming pool. To the other side of the windows, we could see there were acres of land with hedgerows in all sorts of weird and wonderful shapes, and also lots of benches and children’s climbing frames. It was very surreal and peculiar to see a children’s play area so deserted on such a sunny and warm day.

“It’s pretty quiet,” Susan said as she peered outside, “where are all the guests?”

We ventured into the swimming pool area next. It was ever so grand with huge ceilings and pillars and there was a sign on the wall adorned with gold which read: ‘Welcome to Waterfield Swimming Pool.’ 

The pool itself was lovely to look at and the water was a breathtaking aqua blue with ripples that trailed softly outwards. There was light harmonious music coming from a speaker in the wall, and there were comfortable chairs all around the pool with finely decorated cushions. It certainly felt like an ideal place for a holiday. If only there were guests to actually make use of such a wonderful vacation.

“Can we take a swim, Grandfather?” Susan said as she scurried to the corner of the room where there was an array of new swimsuits in cellophane packages in a variety of sizes. “See, there are suits over here, we could take a dip.”

“Child, we have no time to dilly dally in the water, we have to find out what is happening here. Why are there no guests? And why there are two people here with the faces of two ordinary school teachers from London?”

Susan obeyed him but I could see she was disappointed that she once again didn’t get a chance to paddle or for once do what she wanted- she was growing up and the Doctor hadn’t quite noticed.

“Wait, there’s some lifeguards over there!” I said happily- glad to finally find some more people. Maybe our luck was about to change. “Perhaps they’ll have a clue where we are and what’s going on.”

We marched over to the man and woman who had their backs to us and were just sitting down with nothing to do. I wondered how they withstood the boredom.

“Excuse me,” Ian said tapping the man on the shoulder and both man and woman spun around in perfect synchronicity. Once again we were greeted with the faces of yet another Ian and Barbara. They had the same eerie smiles, the same wide eyes and the same eagerness to please us.

Ian began stammering, hardly able to get a sentence out. “What on Earth? It’s us again!”

“Are they the same ones from in the reception?” I asked, hoping the answer was yes.

“They got dressed into swimwear much too quickly,” Susan told me.

“Well I’m going to go check,” I told her just to be sure.

I raced out of the pool area and put on a sprint as I went back to the way we had come in. My heart stopped for a second as just there, standing so still and calm, were the original duplicates we had encountered- still dressed in the bellboy uniform and receptionist suit. The lifeguards in the pool were yet another pair of us! I headed back to join the others and told them what I had found. They were already asking new Ian and Barbara questions and I couldn’t help but feel a little on show that other me was wearing such a tight and revealing swimsuit. I could see that Ian was looking at duplicate Ian and comparing himself with his own physique. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it or not but I also was sure I saw Ian have a quick glance at other me’s legs.

... 

“I most certainly was not!” Ian said from his hospital bed. “I was merely checking to make sure she looked like the ‘real’ you.”

“Dad, we all know you and your ways, no point in denying that one.”

The nurses, now three in the room listening to the story, were raising their eyebrows at their patient.

Ian sighed. “Anyway, skipping past the pool portion and my ogling, you didn’t mention about the name of that road,” Ian said. “You shouldn’t leave out important details, darling.”

“I was coming to that bit, Ian.”

…

Well you see, after we had spoken to swimwear Barbie and Ken, we’d gotten no further in finding out who the duplicates were and so the Doctor suggested we take a stroll and maybe see what was happening away from the hotel complex. We ventured down a little stretch of lane, it was all sort of cobbled and uneven, and my shoes kept getting stuck in the ridges. Anyway, this little lane had something very familiar about it.

“Totter’s Lane?” Ian said in amazement. “Doctor, look at this sign, tell me that isn’t a coincidence.”

“Perhaps someone’s cloned you,” Susan said offering the first kind of explanation. “Perhaps they’ve cloned you a few times and have recreated some sort of map of your lives.”

“Well I’ve never been a lifeguard, Susan,” I said, “and besides, how can they be clones, when would this have happened?”

“Yes, I don’t recall anyone taking any samples,” Ian said.

The Doctor scratched his chin in thought. “Unless of course it hasn’t happened yet.”

I faced the Doctor in surprise. “What do you mean, Doctor?”

“Well, who’s to say your samples aren’t taken in the future and then used to create these clones? Time travel my dear Barbara, it’s not a strict pattern of cause and effect.”

“So you think they’re definitely clones then, Doctor?” Ian asked with a hint of worry in his tone.

“Well it’s a logical assumption as any but I wouldn’t like to say it’s the only answer. There’s a multitude of things it could be.”

“But why is it happening to me and Ian?” I said. “Why not you and Susan, what do these people want with us?”

“Well they don’t seem to have harmed you, do they?” Susan said.

“They may have cloned us and then discarded the originals,” Ian said bleakly. “Who knows what weird lunatics we’re dealing with here?”

The Doctor glanced up at Ian. “There’s no reason to suggest whoever is involved has hostile intent, Chesterbrook.”

Oh we spent ages talking about it and coming up with new theories. Each theory got us no further in discovering what this planet was and why everything was happening- in fact each suggestion just got more and more ludicrous. The Doctor was convinced there must be a laboratory somewhere, or a hospital or some place of technology. I have to admit it did seem likely that a place like that would exist there, after all there seemed to be everything else. We decided to split up into two groups so that we would have a greater chance of finding something. I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to know what was happening, something felt utterly wrong but the Doctor suggested that we paired off together and that Ian and Susan head in the opposite direction.

“Meet back at the reception at five,” he said, “There’s signposts everywhere, we shouldn’t get lost.”

We agreed and I said goodbye to Ian and Susan as they exited down a path to the right. I did worry about them though despite being sure they were both capable individuals. Ian had put up a fuss again about being separated, he was never keen to split the group up, and he certainly felt uncomfortable us not being together. He’d rather be with me than Susan.

...

“Don’t say it like that Barbara,” Ian said from his bed. He was seated upright now, fully immersed in the story. “I liked Susan very much, I just felt uneasy when we were parted.”

“Yes well, anyway, where was I?”

...

Ian and Susan made their way to the right and the Doctor and I walked along a thin path that led to another domed building, but a lot smaller. There was another speaker on the wall and the Doctor motioned for me to use my voice to activate the door. It raised open straight away and we wandered into a very clinical looking space. There was scientific equipment everywhere and the Doctor’s face lit up in excitement at the prospect of beings of great intelligence and progress. There were rows and rows of computers but only one of them seemed to be switched on and the room was silent and still apart from a faint buzzing sound which slightly unsettled me. As we ventured further into the dome, there was a hospital ward of some kind, full of identical beds in neat orderly rows- but of course they too were empty. The beds were perfectly made with not a wrinkle in any sheet, and there was no smell of sickness or ointment, and no sense of the dread of death and illness of a real functional hospital that ordinarily scared me. In some ways however I didn’t know what scared me more.

There was a single nurse standing still in the corner and not exactly a shock to see that yet again she was another duplicate of me. I looked at the wall and it read: ‘The Sullivan research hospital.’

“It’s very strange to have a research hospital when there’s no one here to research on,” I said, feeling my temperature rising with frustration.

The Doctor patted my arm gently. “Calm down, Barbara, otherwise you may need to use this facility yourself.”

“Myself is already using this facility,” I said, “as well as every facility available apparently.”

“Hospitals, hotels, gardens and computers all perfect and inviting...yet no one is here to actually experience the place.”

“And the duplicates or clones or whatever they are...well... they just sort of work and obey us.”

“So it appears, my dear.”

The Doctor left the ward and I followed him back into the computer area. He started examining the machines and taking notes on the year of manufacture and the style and power of the machinery. We looked at one of the biggest machines which was entirely white in colour and the shape of the TARDIS, but a lot smaller in height. It was the only machine working and it was beeping loudly against the silence of the room. 

“What’s that thing doing, Doctor?”

He stared at the monitor of the machine and then ran his fingers across the front where there were five letters written upon it. It was an acronym of some kind and said V.I.C.K.I, like the girls name short for Victoria. 

“Is that named after a person or is it spelling something out?”

...

“It can’t be Doctor!” I said. “It can’t be!”

“Doctor, please tell me this is a joke?” Ian added.

“I’m afraid it’s not, Chesterton.”

...

“Don’t skip ahead Barbara,” Ian interrupted again from his hospital bed. I was growing slightly irritated by his constant interruptions and if he hadn’t been recovering from something quite so serious, I’d have given him my usual rib nudge to shut him up.

“I was trying to use some effective narrative device,” I said. John and the nurses laughed beside us. “I wanted to slip in a bit of non-linear narrative to make it more appealing.”

“Barbara, linear narrative is fine in this story.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Oh alright spoil sport. But I am skipping ahead a little.”

“How far ahead?” John asked.

“Not too far. It was only about half an hour later. The Doctor had found something significant so had asked me to find Ian and Susan and take them back to Sullivan ward....”

...

 

“What is it, Doctor?” Ian said. “Susan and I had discovered a whole shopping network through those trees. There were several more duplicates in there, some in some very fetching fast food restaurant outfits.”

“At one point I even lost the real Ian.” Susan laughed. “It was hard to tell him apart. Luckily our Ian doesn’t wear red and yellow stripes.”

“Very good, my child but I’ve made a startling discovery which takes precedence over the fashions here.”

“What is it Doctor?” I asked, knowing there was going to be some horrible fate that awaited us.

The Doctor took a deep breath and pulled back a curtain to reveal a plaque left on the wall. He rubbed off the dust and motioned for us all to take a look.

We all stared in astonishment to where the plaque read in big letters:

‘This medical research centre is dedicated in honour of our saviour and founder...the Doctor.’

 

...

The three of us headed back to the complex whilst the Doctor stayed to have some alone time to contemplate his findings. We suspected that he was a little bit confused and unsure about what had happened and we didn’t want to antagonise him any further. Ian led the way down the path as Susan and I linked arms and talked about the Doctor’s revelation.

“Do you really think your Grandfather would create a place like this Susan?”

“He was very quiet. I’m not sure the extent of what he’s done.”

“But he seemed adamant that this ‘Doctor’ was him. He wouldn’t hear otherwise.”

“Well that TARDIS image on the plaque pretty much confirmed it, Susan,” Ian butted in as he waited for us to catch up with him.

“I don’t understand why we’re here at all,” I said. “If the Doctor has done something here, or is going to do something later, why did the TARDIS come to this place when the Doctor tried to get us back home?”

“And more importantly what was the Doctor playing at? Is he responsible for the hundreds of Ian and Barbara slaves?”

“Are they slaves, they seem perfectly happy?” Susan asked.

“Well, you’re still a slave even if you don’t know you’re being enslaved, Susan,” I replied. 

...

It was strange when the Doctor first told us about his discovery. We’d gone back to the Sullivan ward and he pulled back the curtain to reveal the plaque, and we all just stared at it as it said that the whole complex was dedicated in honour of the Doctor. None of us understood at first. I certainly couldn’t get my head around how a building we had never seen was now a dedication to this man we hadn’t been travelling with that long. I knew travelling with the Doctor would be unpredictable and I knew it would be dangerous but well…never this complicated. All this time travel business was always something I found tricky. Oh if I was taken back in time I wasn’t allowed to meddle with the past but why wasn’t I allowed to meddle in the future? After all, our future was going to be somebody’s past one day. What made that right? I had asked the Doctor the question a few times but he never answered me. Sometimes I think he didn’t want to tell me but now I realise, he simply didn’t know.

“You lied to us,” I said to him. “You said you’d never been here before.”

The Doctor shook his head. “I haven’t lied my dear, I haven’t been here.”

“Then explain why it’s in your honour?” Ian added.

“I haven’t been here Chesterfield. Oh don’t think on the 20th Century level.”

“You haven’t been here yet,” Susan said softly realising what her grandfather was telling us.

The Doctor paced the room. “I’m not sure when I’ll come here but it appears that I will some time in my own future, and this planet’s past.”

“But why would you clone us?” I asked.

The Doctor had no answer, I could see that clearly. “My dear Barbara, I need time to look around, find out what is going to happen here.”

“You mean what already happened,” Ian said.

“Yes Chesterton, yes, but more importantly, where are the people hmmm? That’s our priority. I come here in the future, that is evident, but what we need to do is to find out what happened after I left.”

“Evacuation, Doctor?” Ian asked. “There are no bodies here, no sign of illness or war. Everything’s perfect.”

“Then what would they have evacuated for?” Susan asked.

“Yes it’s very curious,” the Doctor said. “You three should go back to the complex, gather some clues. I’ll try and determine some more answers here at the medical bay.”

“But Doctor,” I reminded him. “If you do something here in the future aren’t we supposed to leave it alone, to let it happen naturally? What if it’s meant to be like this?”

“I’m afraid my dear something here is not quite right and I am responsible for something that causes this. No, I must discover what was and will be.”

...

John was standing now as he paced the hospital room listening to me deliver the story. I stopped telling it as Ian and I watched him, both distracted by the pacing. 

“Why have you stopped?” John asked.

“Sweetheart, it’s very difficult for me to concentrate with you pacing like that!”

John laughed and sat back down on the bed. “Sorry I just get so impatient whenever you tell me a story. Anyway, come on Mum, you can’t leave it there. What was the Doctor up to?”

“Alright John, I’m getting to it...”

...

The Doctor joined us a while later, saying it was important that we investigated the centre of the dome as he was certain the answer would be there. I wasn’t sure what he meant by ‘the answer’ because as far as I was concerned there were about a million answers to a million questions. 

“It shouldn’t take too long,” the Doctor said as he began to lead us down a path that seemed to go on forever, or at least I couldn’t see the end of it. For someone who suggested that we merely take a look around and see what we found, he seemed awfully sure of the way and sure we were going to find something. The sun blazed down on us through the trees and although it looked bright and sunny, the temperature strangely was mild and soothing. I wondered if the temperature was regulated and controlled here, everything else seemed to be.

As we ventured further along the path, I noticed how greener it all seemed. It was alive with freshly cut grass and plants of all shapes and varieties adorned the edge of the walkway. To the right of us there was a magnificent marble fountain with cherubs on the side. Beautiful aqua water was sprinkling out of the fountain and hitting the grass gently beside us and the place was so beautiful, so tranquil and so serene- and best yet, there was no other versions of me and Ian.

The flowers that lay upon the edge of the track presented an elegant pathway and it was even more stunning because the flowers ranged from colours of pretty pinks and reds to vibrant blues and purples. I noticed that the four of us were very careful not to disturb such wonderful garden life as we treaded softly along the way. Susan was certainly in her element as she bent down several times to smell the flowers- she was such an enthusiastic girl. The Doctor rather scoffed at his granddaughter’s enthusiasm from time to time, but I found it rather endearing and I think so did he though he hid it from sight. 

The path the Doctor was taking certainly seemed to be leading us somewhere. If I had been paranoid, I could have sworn some of the flowers were turning their heads to show us the way.

“It’s like some sort of paradise,” I said to Ian as he walked beside me. I could see Ian was quiet. “Penny for them?”

He forced a smile. “I don’t know Barbara. This place, it’s lovely, but doesn’t it seem rather...too perfect?”

“Yes, give me a cold London street when it’s pouring with rain.”

Ian linked his arm through mine. “And getting soaked to the bone as you race back home after a date at the pictures.”

I smiled. He smiled. It was those sorts of memories and moments that I missed most about home- getting wet from an early morning downpour, reading a crisp newspaper on a Saturday morning and drinking a warm cup of tea in a china cup. The complex was certainly breathtaking, certainly a paradise, but it wasn’t home...and it wasn’t perfect...at least not to me.

The Doctor harrumphed as he noticed that Ian and I had begun to trail on behind. “Would you two keep the pace, dear, dear?”

“We’re coming, Doctor,” Ian said, saluting him and grinning at me.

Watching Susan look at the flowers I felt a sense of pride. I was growing fond of the way she got so excited to see nature and it was that wide eyed fascination with life that I admired most in her. Oh at times she got carried away or would start screaming at her own shadow, but behind all that she was just an ordinary girl, just dreaming away and hoping to meet new friends and find somewhere to belong. Susan didn’t talk about her home, the one she ran from...or was forced to run from...but we knew that Susan missed it in some way, missed a place to call home and friends to call her own. Yes, we were friends now, but Susan needed company her own age and it saddened me to see how lonely she seemed sometimes.

I stopped suddenly, startled by the sight in front of us. I felt Ian’s hand grasp mine tightly, and Susan let out a sudden giggle. I was horrified, mortified, wanted the ground to swallow me up there and then. I looked at the Doctor who was watching our expressions. His own was a look of embarrassment. Ian suddenly let go of my hand, a little awkward at my touch, and slowly edged his way to the sight in front of us. He looked startled and was utterly speechless for the first time in his life. He stared ahead, his eyes darting to and fro at the image in front of him.

A few metres ahead, a grand tree laden with all sorts of fruit lay across a beautiful lawn. It was absolutely stunning and I wish I could say that was all it was. In the centre of the tree, underneath the shelter of its branches which looked like the arms of some phantom reaching out, were two figures, or rather....yes, you guessed it, duplicates of Ian and me. They were close together this time, holding hands and they were cosy next to each other in a position that expressed a ‘lovers’ embrace. Oh but that wasn’t the mortifying part- the mortifying part was that they were almost completely naked! Only delicate fig leaves covered our modesty, or rather ‘their’ modesty and they seemed completely unaware that we had stumbled into their little love nest or whatever it was they were doing in there. 

“Grandfather!” Susan shrieked in excitement. “Isn’t it cute?”

“Cute!” Ian screamed. “Doctor, come here, I’m going to murder you.”

...

“No way!” John yelled out in disbelief. I shushed him as his voice sounded loud in the confined hospital ward and echoed for what felt like corridors away. The nurses, now four in the room, were waiting with baited breath to find out what happened next.

“It’s true unfortunately,” Ian said.

“You were both there naked? That’s so creepy!”

I gave our son a stern motherly frown. “Don’t overdo it. It wasn’t really us, it was our other selves.”

Ian winked at one of the nurses and then turned to John. “Yes, believe you me, your mother and I didn’t make a habit of stripping down and then standing naked amongst the trees chanting like hippies.”

“But the Doctor, he must have known, he was the one who led you there. How did he know about ‘Garden of Eden’ Ian and Barbara?”

“He knew because he had stumbled across this little ‘place’ whilst we were back at the resort,” Ian said.

...

The Doctor backed away from us as we started to approach him. He stood in front of the lovers and held his walking stick in the air. “Don’t come any closer- you’ll disturb these two people.”

“People?” Ian raged. “They’re us, and to be honest I think they’ll be just as annoyed with you as we are.”

“Now just a minute!” the Doctor bellowed. “You have no proof to suggest I had anything to do with this. I am certain for example that I have no knowledge to replicate your anatomy, Chesterfield. There is something amiss here.”

“But you could learn how to replicate my anatomy in the future,” Ian said.

Susan shuffled up to us. “Grandfather’s right. Oh please don’t be annoyed with me Barbara, yes he may have assisted in some way, but he couldn’t do it alone...he’s not that intelligent.”

The Doctor stood bolt upright, hurt by his granddaughter’s words. “What, child?”

Susan spluttered trying to find the words that would flatter her grandfather but never quite managed it.

“Never mind that now,” Ian said. “What is this little paradise and how do we get rid of the damn thing?”

“Excuse me?” the other Ian said as he stood up. The leaves he wore to cover himself were very distracting and I tried not to stare at him. “You’re being awfully loud and disrupting my love, my life- my everything. She is my one Barbara.”

I tried not to faint as the other Barbara turned to look at me and it was very surreal. I do think she had rather a better body than mine but I wasn’t going to admit that to anyone. 

“Oh please be quiet,” other Barbara said. “We have important deeds to do as lovers.”

There was a guffaw of laughter from Susan as I shielded my blushing cheeks from the mortifying discussion.

The other Ian was about to reply when the Doctor put his hand over its mouth.

“I don’t think the child needs to know the ins and outs of your activities here. This is some sort of Garden of Eden scenario is it not, a utopian paradise?”

“This is where my Queen and I live,” other Ian said. “We oversee the land and make sure everyone lives in harmony.”

Ian ran his hand through his hair. “Look Doctor, I’d really like a proper explanation. And I’d like to get away from here too. I’m not sure how much more of me I can take.”

“Tell me,” I said to my other self. “Do you know this old man, have you seen him before?”

The other me looked intently at the Doctor and simply shook her head. She seemed so innocent and graceful and without any kind of doubts or worries. 

“Well they don’t recognise you, Doctor, perhaps this isn’t all to do with you,” Ian said.

“Don’t count your chickens too fast, dear boy, just because they don’t recognise me, doesn’t mean I’m not involved.”

“But Grandfather you said you wanted proof. How is that going to happen? The people don’t recognise you. The real inhabitants have disappeared and we can’t seem to find any documentation to state how this land was founded.”

...

“And that’s where the story comes to a halt John,” I told my son who was now eating some food as he sat on the hospital bed as if he were at the cinema rather than a place of resting.

“What do you mean a halt?”

“Well, the thing is John, we had no idea what was going on and we spent the next day or two lazing around the complex whilst the Doctor tried to dig further into the archives to see if he’d missed anything. Well, nothing was working. We were bored senseless, the duplicates were catering to our every whim but it felt so wrong to ask them for anything, and we were no closer to the truth. It had actually got to the point when we just wanted to get in the TARDIS and leave.”

“So, what did happen? I know you didn’t leave, I know you’d never just leave all those duplicates running around.”

...

John was right- we would never leave the planet without finding out why they were there. It was our duty in a way to find out what went on and it was unlikely that any real people were going to come back and we just had to sit and wait this one out. Oh it’d be nice to think that the whole story was action packed and full of constant movement but just this once it wasn’t. It was slow. It was like waiting for paint to dry. The Doctor was furious that all evidence of how this land had started was nowhere to be found.

“Maybe it was destroyed deliberately,” I said. “You know, maybe when these people left they had to erase all knowledge.”

The Doctor looked at me and sighed. “All these theories are all well and good my dear but until I can determine the answers, they mean nothing.”

“All great discoveries take time, Doctor,” Ian said. “This could be an opportunity. I mean, yes this trip has been less than ideal but whilst we find out what we need to know, you could repair the TARDIS, maybe get us home next time.”

“Dear boy, I have no time for repairs right now, here and now is my upmost priority.”

Ian sighed and argued no further.

And we sat in silence again. 

The next thing that happened moved my story further on. It was one of those happy accidents, one of those discoveries that happened when you least expected it to. It was like Alexander Fleming discovering penicillin. It was a fluke really, an utter fluke but a fluke that finally offered some kind of explanation. We had been sitting in the pool, all of us except the Doctor who was now on the edge, sitting in a deck chair and fiddling around with some weird technology. He was pressing some buttons on the side and they made strange distortions of light across the water. It was quite beautiful. 

Ian and I were playing a competitive game with an inflatable beach ball and Susan had taken to climbing on Ian’s shoulders and trying to help him cheat. It was rather amusing and it was nice to feel a little bit more relaxed and not to be thinking of danger or why we were there. Susan was nearly throttling Ian as she wrapped her arms around his neck and reached for the ball I had thrown into the air. Ian lurched forward to grab it for himself and Susan flew off into the water with a great splash. We all laughed, except the Doctor who stared at us with a look of shock. 

“What is it Doctor?” I said through my laughter.

“I’m not hurt, Grandfather,” Susan said.

“No, my dear, no, never mind that, look,” he said as he pointed to the water beneath where Susan trod. We all looked and stared open-mouthed at the Doctor’s toy thing which was pointed at the spot so that where we all were standing was a weird fuzzy image instead. The fuzz was like a television set losing its reception, and the pool suddenly didn’t look real anymore.

Ian reached forward.

“Careful,” I said but he didn’t listen and touched the fuzzy image. His fingers went right through it.

“This isn’t real,” I said. “This water is just a projection isn’t it, Doctor?”

He nodded. He looked back at his piece of equipment and touched it lightly on the top and he rang the small gold bell that was perched on the table beside him. The Ian and Barbara duplicates had left us with it should we have requirements. Within a moment of the Doctor ringing the bell, other Ian and Barbara were standing beside him and they were waiting to assist him.

“Is someone drowning?” the lifeguard version of me said as she looked at us in the pool. “I can dive in at once.”

The Doctor held her back. “No, no, that won’t be necessary. Just stand there would you, the two of you?”

The other Ian and Barbara did as they were told and stood in front of the Doctor. He pointed his contraption at them and suddenly they became out of focus and they began to distort. The duplicates were not real! 

“Just as I suspected,” the Doctor began, “these versions of you are not clones. They are not flesh, blood, or bone. They are not real.”

“So this whole place is an illusion?” I stammered.

“Not an illusion, exactly. We are seeing most clearly. This is not a magician’s lair but this whole complex, everything, the duplicates and the grass, the sky, the water...it’s all holographic.”

Susan stared in amazement. “A holographic complex, it can’t have just started this way, someone must have created it?”

I looked at Ian grimly. “And we all know who did that.”

The three of us turned to look at the Doctor.

...

Sullivan research hospital is where we found him. He’d rushed off rather quickly after the discovery. He was quiet and was refusing to speak to us all. When we entered the room, we were surprised to see the Doctor had one of the Barbara holograms standing next to him with her eyes closed. The hologram Barbara was dressed in a ball gown and looked rather elegant. The Doctor was typing away at a computer which seemed to be corresponding to the hologram somehow.

“Doctor what are you doing?” I asked. 

The Doctor turned to face me. “I’m hacking the system. I need to find some answers.”

“But is that ethical?” I asked. “Isn’t she alive?”

“Oh ethics are most useless in this situation, Miss. Wright and besides she isn’t real after all.”

I knew he was serious when he called me by Miss. Wright and not Barbara so I let him continue with his task. Ian led me away to the door.

“What do you think, Barbara? Do we trust him?”

“Yes, I mean, he hasn’t done this yet has he? He’s just as confused as the rest of us.”

“The question is...does this change everything?”

“What do you mean?”

“The Doctor knows he comes here, he knows he helps create this place, does that mean he’ll not come here in the future?”

“But if he doesn’t come here in his future, then surely this wouldn’t be here now.”

Ian scratched his head. “I’m getting a headache.”

I was about to talk to Ian further when a noise from the corner startled the two of us. It was a whirring mechanical sound and then to our surprise, the other Barbara awoke suddenly, turning to face the Doctor.

“May I assist you?” she said. Her voice seemed different, not exactly like mine anymore, it was more basic.

“I wanted to ask you some questions,” the Doctor said.

“I am here to assist,” she repeated. “I can teach you many kinds of dance. Ballroom, Latin, styles of…”

The Doctor shushed her quiet.

Ian laughed. “Perhaps that dancer Barbara could teach me a few steps.”

I nudged him playfully. “She’s a hologram, but she’s not a miracle worker, Ian.”

We stopped laughing as we watched as the Doctor tapping away at the keyboard. He looked deeply into the hologram’s eyes, back and forth, and then patted her gently on the hand like he would with me if he wanted to ask me something important.

“Do you know who I am?” he asked.

She nodded her head. She clearly didn’t understand. She was just light. 

“What is your purpose for existence?” he said softly.

Ian turned to me and grinned. “If only we could answer such a complex question.”

The other Barbara smiled. “I am designated Barbara 179. I teach ballroom, Latin, and other styles of dance in my specialised area.”

“Yes, yes, but when were you activated, created, brought to life?”

“I was created on 137.50 and assigned this role. Any questions about date of origin and programming should be directed to the officials.”

“Who are they?” Ian persisted. “Who made you?”

But before the hologram had a chance to respond, Susan burst into the room, breathless and her hair covered with bits of twigs and some small flowers.

“Child, what is it? What’s the matter?” the Doctor said as he stood up and approached her.

Susan caught her breath and ran her hand through her already scruffy elfin hair. “Grandfather, I was with the main holographic Ian and Barbara, you know the Eden ones? They have the answer to this I’m sure of it.”

“How do you mean, Susan?” I asked.

“Well it’s easy to tell when their clothes are off.”

“What is?” the Doctor said, startled.

“The code numbers on their backs. They’ve both got them. At first I thought it was their designated numbers but that didn’t make any sense because I assumed they’d be ‘one’ and ‘two’ but they’re not they’re numbers 127 and 128.”

“What are you getting at, Susan?” Ian said.

“The numbers of the holograms start from 127 but what about the 126 people before that?”

“You’re assuming my dear that there was any such number of people.”

“Grandfather, it makes sense, to create more life and number them in order doesn’t it?”

“Yes my dear, but that doesn’t answer anything about where those people are.”

Susan faced the holographic Barbara and smiled gently. “Who are numbers 1 until 126?”

“Number 1 through to 126 are to be protected. We must look after and make sure they are safe. Would you care for refreshment?”

The holographic Barbara was still eager to please us and the way she smiled at us, the way her face seemed stuck in that cheery expression, the way her head tilted slightly to the right every time she spoke- it was all rather unnerving. It almost seemed like it was her duty to take care of us rather than simply work in the hotel like she was told to. 

…

We pondered on the dilemma for ages, we even considered leaving the planet and not looking back, leaving the planet as it was, perhaps as it was meant to be, but after a while it became obvious that none of the four of us were keen on that idea, we were too involved, we were part of it. 

…

Ian and I took a moment alone together and sat by the shelter of one of the trees near the ‘Garden of Eden’, not too close to get a rather unwanted eyeful but close enough to feel the warmth that greeted us whenever we arrived in that area. 

“Have you noticed something strange about those things?” Ian said, looking at me seriously.

I hated it when he called the holograms ‘things’ but I let him continue.

“They all have that weird little thing on their finger don’t they?”

“They do?” 

I wondered why I hadn’t noticed it myself, I was usually more observant. He was right. It looked like a micro-chip, silver and shining like a star.

Ian rubbed his chin. “It must be significant. I don’t know what’s happening here, Barbara, and I don’t know why I feel like this, call it intuition if you will but these hologram things seem connected in a way, sort of like they fit together or something.”

…

“And did they?”

John looked at me across the hospital bed and for a moment it was almost as if he was the eight-year-old boy we were telling ghost stories to- wide eyed and eager for the next part of the tale. The five nurses and the consultant too looked like children as they listened to the story.

Ian looked at me and smiled. “They did. My intuition was right as usual.”

“Oh Ian.” I swatted him gently. “Let me tell this would you?”

…

The Doctor was pleased with Ian’s observations on the holograms and the micro-chipped type fingers, but of course the Doctor being the Doctor, the sly old fox he was, liked to think he’d come up with the theory himself and was pretty much telling Susan as much as they ventured along a path later that day.

Regardless of who had discovered what, we all agreed that something needed to be done and the theory needed to be tested. There was just one problem…how did we get dozens of other Ian and Barbara’s to follow us to the gardens? I suggested there might be something on the computer that would take them there, or at least call them like some sort of signal. Susan and I were asked to try it out and I of course knew nothing of computers so I supervised while my former pupil handled all the technology. Unfortunately this drew a blank, Susan informing us that the system was complicated, after all it had been created by the Doctor- and not just that but a Doctor with even more knowledge and experience than our own.

“Well then,” I said rolling up my sleeves, “old fashioned way it is then.”

The Doctor bristled. “What do you suggest, my dear?”

“We simply tell them that they’re needed. Remember how eager they are to please us? What if we just tell them we need them in the garden? They seem to respond to mine and Ian’s voices like they did when we arrived here.”

The Doctor placed his index finger to his chin. “Well very rudimentary, my dear, but possible.”

…

And that’s what we did. They followed us almost immediately as soon as Ian shouted over the loud speaker that he needed assistance in the gardens. We watched as a whole swarm of Ian and Barbara’s in various costumes walked slowly, almost hypnotically toward the forest, only a few footsteps behind us. They were eerily quiet, so engrossed in the walk to their destination that they didn’t seem to relate to the other holograms around them, like they had one purpose- to help us. 

Now we knew the holograms weren’t clones, we were aware that they weren’t quite as emotional as we had supposed they were. Yes they looked like us and sounded like us and had some qualities that felt human and life-like and relatable, but we had to remember they were programmed and projected, they were not equipped to feel and understand and learn and love- they were simply programmed to help.

“Now if you could all stand in a circle around the two lovers here,” I said as I watched them move around each other with not much space between them. 

Susan giggled. “They look so funny!”

“Scary when you see a hundred or more with your own face coming toward you,” Ian said, watching the amazing sight unfold. “Glad it’s not a war. I’d hate to go to the front line and see my own face staring back at me.”

“I don’t think these simple beings could even be capable of war,” I said. “The Doctor seems to have made them to care, albeit via a need in their programming rather than a human desire to nurture.”

Susan sighed. “Maybe we’ve been too hard on Grandfather, maybe when he comes here, what he does is for good.”

Ian put his arm around her. “Maybe this will give us those answers, Susan.”

We stood back from the Eden forest and watched silently and with astonishment as automatically the holograms stood around the centre tree in a large circle, all the way around the entire fields with barely enough space between each. They raised their fingers slowly toward either side of their bodies and then it happened. 

…

“What did?” John was practically jumping from the chair as he waited to hear what was going to happen. The nurses and the consultant were also clinging onto each other in anticipation.

“The two nude versions of us stood in the middle with their arms raised,” Ian said with amusement, “like two rulers or gods or whatever you want to call them. The other holograms were connected somehow and entranced.”

…

“Look at that,” the Doctor said. “Incredible.”

I stared at him for a moment and couldn’t help but feel proud that he was so curious and in awe of it but I also found myself amused by the idea he was fascinated by his own creation even if he hadn’t created it yet. 

The holograms were silent and within moments we were greeted with the sight of a projection coming from the tree, an image forming on the oak almost like a cinema screen at an open air showing. The image displayed a back-story if you will- a sequence of events with a little timer in the corner of the picture. It looked as though the image was from the perspective of the holograms themselves and for the first time we were seeing what the people of the planet looked like, the 126 unknown missing people. They looked a lot like humans.

I didn’t expect to find myself crying but as an historian it was like discovering a document that pieced together everything we’d been looking for that filled in the story of the planet’s past. The screen showed how there had been war, many lost, how a brutal band of oppressors had tried to kill the remaining 126 and how a man with blonde curls and a brightly coloured coat stood among the trees, helping people into the giant dome, sealing it away and working at the computer with the assistance of a red haired girl with equally big curls. 

“Who is that blonde man?” Ian asked. “And where are you?”

“I think perhaps that is rather a long story, one I shall perhaps explain to you one day.”

“So what happened?” Susan said. “They were saved and holograms were created to help them?”

“Yes my dear,” the Doctor said, staring at the image of the man on the screen and examining a little too long. “But what happens next? We must keep watching.”

And then it showed us. The picture almost sped up and the time stamp accelerated as if the years were passing by with little change. The sped-up image showed happiness and kindness and prosperity with the holograms aiding the people of the complex. But then the image stopped and it all seemed to change, much like the history of every planet that ever existed. Peace didn’t last forever and we were witnessing the condensed version of the events before our very eyes. 

“They’re just being snatched,” Susan said, letting out a sob, “beamed up by the oppressors. Where were they taken?”

But the film ended. From the point of view of the holograms that’s where the story stopped. There was no information for them involving the kidnap, there was no advice, and no outside help- they didn’t even know that they didn’t need to help anyone anymore. I wondered what it had been like before we arrived. Did they stand motionless waiting to assist people who were never coming? Could they never turn themselves off? 

I felt Ian’s hand in mine and I clung on tightly. We watched together as the holograms disconnected and stood waiting for us to guide them to their next place. But what did that mean? And with the time stamp displayed clearly, it was apparent that the 126 real people were never coming back, too many years had passed. They would all be long dead. The Doctor looked saddened by the revelation and bowed his head. He had failed somehow. Somehow his plan to protect had gone wrong in the future.

“I’m sorry, Doctor,” I said.

“I am too.”

…

The Doctor was quiet as we made our way into the TARDIS. He hung his scarf on the coat rack and circled the console twice. He stared down deeply at the buttons and levers but didn’t press anything, just stood and listened to the sound of the interior and the distant hum of the machinery. 

…

John was on his knees on the hospital floor as the staff crowded around him. “But what about the other versions of you, what happened to them? You couldn’t be sure of the real people’s fate but the holograms were important in a way. You can’t leave that bit out of the story.”

I smiled at him. “Very well. The Doctor had an idea.”

…

In the research laboratory we gathered by the computer and discussed what was to be done with the holograms and the simulations inside the dome. It was a difficult matter being that the holograms bared our faces and had no one to care for so we took a moment to really consider the choices.

Finally, we all agreed that we had to deactivate them and the environment.

“Grandfather, it feels like we’re killing them. I know they weren’t real with any feelings but I can’t help but feel sad.”

The Doctor gave her a hug. “Oh my dear Susan, I should never want to make you sad. But why don’t we leave them in storage as it were, a sort of hibernation should this world ever be re-awakened, should ever the people here learn to live together and wish to return?”

“Or if ‘future you’ decides to come back?” Ian gave a wry look at the Doctor.

“Indeed Chesterton, then may whoever wishes decide what to do with the other many schoolteachers.”

And that was the first time I really considered what had happened. That our Doctor, not yet, but at some point was going to make creations in our image, was going to consider us something special. 

…

Back in the TARDIS, Ian smiled and tapped the old man on the shoulder. “You know, Doctor; I’m going to be sad in a way not finding out why you choose me and Barbara for your creations.”

The Doctor tried to ignore the mischief alight in Ian’s eyes. “I must have lost my senses in later life.”

We all laughed for the first time in a while and it was so lovely to be back in the only other place than London that we dared to call home.

…

“So you were the inspiration for saviours huh?” John laughed. “That makes my pop career look a bit lacklustre.”

“Nonsense, we’re proud parents of a pop-star,” I told him firmly. 

“So it must have been really odd having all those versions of you. I mean most days I hate to look at my own reflection in the mirror and that’s just one of them.”

I looked at Ian as he lay in the hospital bed, wrapped up under the covers, looking just the same as he did those years ago except with white hair and lines on his face and I smiled. In some ways it would have been nice to have more than one Ian when he was sick, a comfort to know that he was always there ready with a smile and asking if I was alright. One day he wouldn’t be there and there were no replacements. There was only one Ian Chesterton and one Barbara Wright no matter how many the Doctor created in that far flung future in a place we never should have visited. 

“So not the paradise planet it started out as then?” John said sitting back on his father’s bed.

I smiled. “No, within the so-called paradise it was no different than a million other times and places.”

“And we didn’t need another planet for paradise,” Ian said, taking my hand. “We had our own little piece, just for us, just we two.”

…

As the consultant and the nurses left the room, the consultant turned to them and I heard him say in a loud voice: “Great story, well told by that woman, but what a load of cobblers!”

If only they knew.


End file.
